Baling machines (“balers”) are used to bale waste and other compressible materials, such as for transporting waste material to a disposal site. In a conventional “horizontal” baler, the material to be baled is allowed to fall under gravity through a chute and into a receiving chamber. A ram or platen powered by a hydraulic cylinder moves the material into a compression chamber and compresses the material therein. A shear bar located at the entrance of the compression chamber shears off excess material extending into the chute as the ram advances the material into the compression chamber. Once the material has attained a sufficient degree of compression, bale tie wires are wrapped around the material to form a bale.
During the baling process, material occasionally becomes jammed between the ram and the shear bar. Typically, the only way to remove the jam is to manually remove the material causing the jam, which requires the operator to insert a hand or arm into the baler. While lockout and tagout procedures reduce the risk of operator injury, they can be easily bypassed, ignored, or forgotten. If the baler is not de-energized and properly locked out prior to the clearing process, the baler could be accidentally re-started while the operator is removing the jam from the baler, causing serious injury (such as traumatic amputation) to the operator or possibly death. For example, between 1986 and 2002, there were 43 fatal injuries to operators of recycling industry balers in the Unites States.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a safety device for balers and other jamming machinery that can protect against operator injury when a jam occurs.